What is Google OpenSocial?
Updated on 02 November 2007
...and why should Facebook and MySpace users care?
After losing out to rival Microsoft last week, when the software maker took a minority stake in Facebook and shored up its position as the site's advertising delivery partner, Google has launched OpenSocial.
Luring MySpace, the world's largest online social network, to its system, and courting independent software developers, Google aims to challenge the fast-growing Facebook.
'OpenSocial is going to become the de facto standard'Chris DeWolfe, CEO MySpace
But should users of social networking sites, like MySpace, LinkedIn and Friendster be worried?
The OpenSocial platform will allow developers to write programs across multiple social sites using one set of tools and, crucially, allow Google access to valuable user information.
It also potentially makes users vulnerable to fraud. With personal information readily available, identity theft is a potential risk.
Inevitably this key demographic information will be used by advertisers to more accurately target their markets. In fact, with Facebook now valued at $15bn following the Microsoft deal, it is due to unveil an advertising platform at an event in New York next week.
OpenSocial's new software will eliminate the need for small start-ups or even one-person shops to customise their programs for each site, but instead they will be able to create widgets that work across the whole platform.
"OpenSocial is going to become the de facto standard (for developers) instantly out of the gates. It is going to have a reach of 200m users, which is way bigger than anything else out there," Chris DeWolfe, chief executive and co-founder of MySpace, said.
Google unveiled the system earlier this week and said it has already lured some of the biggest developers aligned with Facebook, which opened its site to outside applications in May in a move that has helped boost its user base to more than 48m people.
Developers have created interactive programs that let users rank their friends, wage virtual food fights or compare and recommend music. Some of the applications are now used by millions of people and are already being sought out by advertisers.
"The Web has moved to its next stage," said Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
"We always knew that the Web would be significantly social. We also always knew that it would be standard, open, and extensive, which is what this combination and the other activities today are showing."
This 'openness' is the key. With so much valuable information available on the web, the question is what will it be use for?
